


Sober haha jk unless

by Rainbyotes



Series: Of Monsters and Men [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Angst, Body Horror, Character Death In Dream, Eyes, Gavin Reed Being Less of an Asshole, Half-Vampires, Leo Manfred Redemption, Leo Needs a Hug, Lots and Lots of Eyes, M/M, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Tags May Change, Trans Leo, Vampires, maybe idk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:14:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28898751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainbyotes/pseuds/Rainbyotes
Summary: this is a continuation of hope i dont fuck it up so read that first bc then youll know whats up, but yeah leo gets sober yay! body horror!! song names used as titles!!! we got it all babey, i will probably make a playlist of all the songs i took titles from/will use so look out for that!
Relationships: Leo Manfred & Gavin Reed, Leo Manfred & Markus, Leo Manfred & Original Female Character(s), Leo Manfred/Gavin Reed
Series: Of Monsters and Men [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984021
Kudos: 2





	1. Fine, great

**Author's Note:**

> dietsatire helped me edit again! thanks bro ily <3

**Sunday**

* * *

After Leo was discharged from the hospital, Gavin drove him home and they disposed of all the drugs he had (well, Gavin confiscated them, anyway) and made sure he was set for the week.

“Okay, I'm going to check in on you like, every day, and then I’ll come in-person every two days. How does that sound?” Gavin asked as he stood in the middle of Leo’s extremely messy living room.

Leo was shocked that he was even here. This was Gavin _Reed_ , the guy who's mean to everyone, standing in Leo’s living room because he wants to _help_ him. So he just nodded.

“Yeah, yeah, that's fine…” He trailed off and messed with his shirt. He felt exhausted. He rubbed a hand down his face and failed to notice the look Gavin gave him.

“Alright, good. I have to head back to work now, so take care of yourself, man.”

Gavin flashed him a small, reassuring smile before he let himself out through the front door. Once the lock clicked into place, Leo let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. His body felt heavy and cumbersome. The exhaustion likely stemmed from his freak-out. He decided a nice long nap was in order. Leo walked to his bedroom to get changed. His pajamas consisted of old gym shorts and an oversized t-shirt he got a thrift store with the text ‘Fuck Cops’ on it in big letters. After he got changed, Leo crawled under the mountain of blankets that he called his bed and was out almost instantly. He really _had_ been exhausted.

As soon as he closed his eyes, Leo was back in the black void. Everything was exactly the same as the first time he visited it, except this time he was wearing his pajamas. He looked around and saw nothing. Now that he was barefoot, he could feel the cold floor beneath him. Wait, was it even a floor? Whenever he moved his feet, it looked like water, there were ripples and everything but… it was solid. It was fucking weird is what it was. Weird and cold. When Leo glanced up, something appeared. Well, more like _someone_.

It was him, or at least someone that _looked_ like him. It was a carbon copy of him, except that it was wearing what he wore yesterday, right down to the beanie. Oh, and also the fact that it had long black claws, hundreds of eyes on a face too small to fit them all, and six giant eyes behind it all staring into him. _This must’ve been what Dad saw,_ he thought and gulped.

“Uh, what… who… are you?” He asked quietly. It chuckled softly, as if he had just made a bad joke.

“ ** _I’m you._ **” It told him in a distorted voice that only vaguely sounded like him. He was starting to feel the cold creep up his legs; as if invisible spirals of water were latching onto him.

“Yeah but… why now?” Leo asked which caused _It_ to give a distorted laugh 

“ ** _Because you never let me in before,_ **” It cackled.

Leo plunged under the floor and he woke up gasping for breath. 

He was hot and sweaty, mainly from all of the heat he’d generated under the covers but also from whatever the _hell_ he had just dreamt. He pushed the blankets off and sprinted straight to the bathroom. He dropped to his knees and heaved into the toilet. Not a lot came out, but the sick coated his mouth and he still felt awful. Leo sat back on the tile floor and scrubbed a hand down his face. He felt how sweaty it was, and... He stood up slowly and looked in the mirror.

The left side of his face was normal, but on the right side, a large mass of eyes peered back at him. He jolted away and his back hit the bathroom wall as he gaped at his reflection. Leo began to hyperventilate but that seemed to make things worse. More and more eyes started to appear the harder he heaved so he squeezed his eyes shut and slid down the wall until he was on the ground, clutching his knees. 

“Just - just focus,” He told himself sternly, “ground yourself or some shit, you are _not_ going to have a fucking breakdown over a stupid dream.”

That seemed to help a little bit, so he continued to try and convince himself he was okay. He succeeded; his breaths slowed and the shaking ceased. After a minute or so he was fully calmed down. He stood up and glanced tentatively towards the mirror. His reflection was back to normal. He brought a hand up and it was normal too, no claws, nothing. Leo further inspected his reflection and rubbed the right side of his face where the eyes had been. Nothing; absolutely nothing. He exhaled a shaky breath and backed away from the mirror.

“Back to normal….” He whispered and felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him. There was no way he was going to be able to fall back asleep after what just happened.

 _Guess I'm up for the day, then_ , he thought and walked out of the bathroom, almost forgetting to flush the toilet on his way out. The door closed behind him and stood safely in the hallway, he checked his phone. The lock screen read 8:30 P.M. But they left the hospital around 10 A.M., how was it already 8? He wasn't surprised to see no missed calls, but it still hurt. 

There wasn't any point in changing, so he just stuck his phone into his pocket and made his way to the kitchen. Since he was up he figured he might as well try to eat something. Leo opened his fridge. He didn't really know what he had expected. There wasn't a lot of food, except for old takeout and weed brownies, amazing. If this was adulthood then it was pretty fucking cringe, but he could deal with it. He grabbed a random container which turned out to be some Panda Express so score. Leo put in the microwave for 2 minutes and waited. _Beep! Beep! Beep!_ Oh it's done already, let's dig in I guess. 

He pulled it out and grabbed a fork then settled on the couch. He turned on some random movie and started eating. The movie he chose was some old rom-com from the 2010s, Leo wasn't really paying attention, focusing more on his food. Once that was done he just set the empty container on the table and zoned out. 


	2. Lately I haven’t been sleeping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> angst just, angst  
> so much of it im sorry aidsnjvnefj

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw if there are spelling mistakes please tell me, i didn tedit this bc i really wanted to post it asjfnje

**Monday-**

* * *

He eventually ended up falling asleep on the couch and was awoken by knocking.

The knocking was really loud and Leo groaned not wanting to get up but the knocking wouldn't stop, so the only way to stop it was to get up. He pushed himself up from the couch with a groan and stumbled towards the door

“Alright! Alright! I'm coming, fuck!” he cursed as he tripped over a pile of something and unlocked the door. The sun was a surprise, he didn't expect it to be  _ that _ bright holy fuck. He brought his hands up to shield his eyes, luckily whoever was at the door was taller than him because they blocked most of the sunlight

“Holy shit you look terrible, what happened?” the person asked, once his eyes adjusted Leo realized it was Gavin. Wait Gavin? Why was he here, did he come to arrest Leo? No he wouldn't do that Leo was clean now and Gavin took all the red-ice he had, unless- “Hey dude you alright? You aren't looking too good and uh, I think you have sharper teeth than normal.” Gavin said concerned, while Leo was just confused. He ran his tongue over his teeth and- oh.  _ Oh _ . he brought a hand up just to make sure he wasn't crazy and yep, those are fangs. 

“Uh I need to um use the bathroom real quick.” He lied and left Gavin standing in the doorway. He sprinted to the bathroom and took a look in the mirror at his new fangs. 

They fell on the larger side compared to your average vampire fangs. With the canines on his lower jaw curved inward as they grew, making his appearance all the more inhuman, with his upper canines being as long as his pointer finger.

He raised his hand to his mouth and was met with the two protruding fangs. It was crazy to think they were real, I mean, eldritch  _ do _ have fangs but most of them are smaller than this.  _ That probably because they can actually  _ control _ their powers _ he thought.

There was a gentle knock on the door frame which startled Leo, but it was just Gavin… who he completely abandoned at the front door,  _ shit _ . Gavin noticeably stared at Leo's mouth and couldn't help but be distracted by the large fangs.

“Uh, you good man?” he asked cautiously as Leo was still looking at his reflection. The younger man was visibly stressed, which somehow caused it to get worse. 

“Y-yeah, yeah I’m good.” Leo tore his eyes away from his reflection and rubbed at his eyes. He missed Gavins look of concern and instead became aware he was in old gym shorts and a shirt that said ‘Fuck Cops’ on it, in front of a cop. And he didn't have his packer in, could this get anymore embarrassing? “Uh, I’m going to go get changed real quick.” he said edged out of the bathroom to his bedroom. Before he closed the door Gavin said 

“Nice shirt.” with a slight grin, Leo instantly blushed and closed the door putting his back to it. He groaned into his hands but it was a bit hard as his teeth were still big. Why did he have to show up today? Why did his body have to freak out like this? Wait why did it freak out like this? He didn't have one of the weird dreams last night, or at least he doesn't remember having one. Vic would probably know why, she knows everything.  _ One of the perks of immortality I guess. _ He couldn't ask her though, it's been months since they've last talked and even longer since they've last seen each other. Better not think of that now, should get dressed. 

Leo decided to go with some sweatpants, a shirt and hoodie, and the classic beanie, along with the essential packer obviously. When he looked in the mirror it seemed like his fangs got a bit smaller but it was hard to tell, Leo also noticed his complexion was less pale and sickly, that was good at least. His stubble needed a trim but it wasn’t that bad actually, he also desperately needed a shower but he wasn’t about to get naked while Gavin was here.

He decided to test the new set of teeth by poking them with his finger. They didn’t hurt and it didn’t feel weird or uncomfortable in his mouth, they actually felt completely normal like they’ve been that way forever. Probably an effect of being half-eldritch or something.

_ We should call Vic _ a small voice said in the back of his head, and it was right, but when has Leo ever listened to anyone? He took a deep breath and opened the door heading into the hallway.

Gavin wasn’t in the bathroom doorway anymore and moved somewhere else in the crappy apartment. He must’ve heard Leo open the door because he shouted

“Yo! Do you have any  _ actual _ food here or is it just junk food?” looks like he's in the kitchen then. Leo walked to the kitchen and saw Gavin rooting through the cabinets. “I'm mean holy hell, you have all this trash yet your still skinny as fuck!” he laughed and looked up to see Leo in new clothes.

“I have a fast metabolism, don't really gain weight.” he answered and scratched the back of his neck. Gavin gave him a once over and went back to rummaging through the small kitchen

“Could’ve fooled me, I mean you're always wearing baggy clothes or a bunch of layers. Figured you’d at least have  _ some _ meat on your bones.” he pulled out what looked like a can of  _ something _

“That's the dysphoria babey.” Leo chuckled and leaned his elbows on the counter top popping his hip out. It was kinda sticky and had a bunch of stains of… mysterious origin. He really needed to clean the apartment sometime. The detective let out a huff and finally decided to give in and grabbed a bag of chips settling on the countertop. He opened the bag and started chowing down

“So, did anything happen yesterday after I left?” He asked in between bites. Leo wasn’t sure if he should mention the dream or almost breakdown so he decided to play it safe 

“Nah not really, ended up sleeping the whole day.” He told the older man

“How did you manage that?” Gavin asked a little shocked but he’s seen what red-ice can do to people, it was a stimulant after all so tiredness was a usual symptom. 

“I dunno, transforming must’ve taken a lot out of me.” The younger man shrugged and stole a chip from the bag, it was sour cream and onion flavored.

“Does it normally make people sleep all day?” Gavin wondered which made Leo snort

“How the hell should I know? I don’t really know a bunch of eldritch, and that was like my first transformation, like,  _ ever _ .” Gavin rolled his eyes as he chewed 

“Yeah but didn’t your parents ever tell you, or like inform you of your species?”

“Well dear old dad wouldn’t have known anything, Mom kinda did, and the other one probably did but I don’t remember.” He said quietly.

“Wait, you had two mom's?” Gavin asked genuinely surprised, he only knew about the dead one. Leos cheeks had a light blush as he realized what he said

“Er yeah I did, she’s super busy though.” He corrected. Talking to Vic was probably one of the things he did  _ not  _ want to do right now.

“Wow, I always thought it was the one, how come you’ve never mentioned the other one?” Gavin quizzed and Leos face grew redder

“Well I haven’t seen her in a really long time, and I can’t even remember the last time we’ve talked. And people don’t really react well when you say one of your mom's is a half-vampire and that she’s been alive since, like the fourteenth century. Or that her house is like straight out of a horror movie.” Leo started to pace in front of the counter as he rambled “Oh! Or that she completely hates my dad and has like over a dozen swords.” 

Gavin took this information in trying to think of all the half-vampires he knows, which isn’t a lot actually.

“Well if it means anything, I hate your dad too.” The younger man froze in his pacing and looked at the detective who continued to eat chips. 

How could such a simple statement mean so much to him? Plenty of people didn’t like Carl, but that was mainly because of Markus. Maybe it was different because it was Gavin? Either way it meant a lot to Leo. He didn’t realize he started to smile softly but he did, because somehow that was one of the nicest things anyone’s ever said to him.

Gavin almost choked on a chip. 

“Holy shit are you ok?!” Leo asked, very concerned but Gavins coughing fit was over quickly.

“Yeah I’m good, but look!” he coughed out “Your fangs shrunk!” He pointed to where the large fangs used to be, but now they had returned to their normal size. Leo tentatively touched where the fangs were but was met with his lips and stubble. He barked out a laugh

“Holy shit they did.” He couldn’t believe it, well he knew that they would shrink eventually but he didn’t expect it to be that fast. Maybe it was because he felt more relaxed or something? Either way it was great news and meant he had a handle on this and that everything was going to be fine. 

* * *

He did not have a handle on this. He so did not have a handle on this. Everything was  _ not _ fine.

After his fangs shrank and Gavin finished the chips they chilled out on the couch watching mindless TV and ate whatever leftovers Leo had in the fridge, it was actually really nice and… wholesome. Before they knew it it was already pretty dark outside so Leo suggested the detective stay the night, after all he could keep an eye on him in case something happened. And did something happen all right.

Leo offered Gavin the be since he knew the couch would’ve been bad for his back and he accepted it. Luckily everything Leo owned was baggy or oversized so the older man had plenty to wear, Leo just took off the hoodie and slept on the couch. Everything was going fine but then the couch resident had a nightmare.

He was back in the void but couldn't see the copy of himself, the floor rippling as Leo searched and walked on. He soon came upon something, more like some _ one _ . It was Carl, dead on the floor with giant gashes in his torso, blood everywhere. Crouched over him was Markus, his face full of artificial tears as he mumbled ‘Dad’, the mismatched eyes full of grief. Leo stepped forward at the gruesome sight, as soon as he did Markus’ head whipped to look at him turning from sorrow to rage. 

“You. You did this.” Markus hissed, his hands stained red as he stood up to face Leo.

“Wh what? What do you mean?” he asked the android but Markus just kept repeating-

“You killed him. You killed him. You killed him.”- as he got closer to the human. Leo tried to step back but Markus was too fast, his green and blue eyes turning black. Markus shoved Leo, harder and harder, until on his final shove he said

“You killed my dad.” and shoved so hard the brunette fell backwards, helpless as he hit the floor with a thud. As soon as he hit the floor he was standing again, still in the void, but overlooking a different corpse. Gavin. Gavin Reed, the only person that's been nice to him laid on the ground, bloodied and mangled. His face had gashes and cuts, the scar over his nose was reopened, you almost couldn't tell it was him. 

Leo rushed to his side and held the bloodied corpse in his arms, tears swelling in his eyes.

“Come on you asshole, wake up!” he begged but it was no use. Gavin was dead. Until he opened his eyes, they were black as well, and grabbed Leos throat, choking him. Leo gasped for breath but it didn't come, the stronger man had an iron grip and wasn't going to let up soon. Leo was on his back thrashing about on the floor as he slowly lost consciousness. The last thing he saw was a bloodied Gavin Reed looking down at him with a sneer on his face.

“Good fucking ridance.” he blacked out and woke up for a third time, still in the void. This time he wasn't facing a corpse but his mother, Cynthia. She was wearing a long white gown that looked like it was floating. Her skin was pale and looked as if it was glowing, her face was just like Leo remembered it, except this time it had dozens of eyes over it. He started to cry at the sight of her and wobbled toward her to give her a hug but he couldn't move his feet. When he looked down the floor had engulfed his legs, the cold soaking into the bones.

Tears kept streaming down his face as he looked back at his mom with confusion.

“M-mom? Wh-wh-what's happening?” he pleaded but got no response from the ghostly figure, instead he saw her stabbed. Right through her stomach by a giant black blade. Blood started to seep through the thin gown and stained it in no time.

“No!” he screamed as his mother dropped. He tried to move but the floor still held onto him, creeping further up his leg til he couldn't move from his wait down. 

The more he struggled the more it consumed him. The figure that stabbed Cynthia came closer. It was him, in full eldritch form, stabbing his own  _ mother _ . Leo couldn't do anything but scream and thrash trying to grab for his copy but to no avail. The copy looked at him and gave him an unnatural grin, showing off rows of sharp teeth and sporting a pair of fangs similar to the ones he grew earlier. It walked over to him still holding the blade.

“ **_You really thought this would be easy?_ ** ” it laughed and raised the blade, slashing Leo’s throat as he was consumed by the rippling floor.

He woke up, this time in his shitty living on his crappy couch curled up in the fetal position. Everything  _ hurt _ . His eyes, his hands, even his back was in excruciating pain; it felt like he was being torn open from the inside out. His face was streaked with tears, snot, and sweat, with more eyes being formed. His hands turned into wicked looking claws and tore the fabric of the couch easily.

Everything was shaking, either from the massive amount of dark energy he was putting out or because he was shaking uncontrollably. Everything was muffled but a voice broke through

“-eo? You’re ok! It was just a dream, calm down.” Gavin soothed as he stood over the shaking brunette. As soon as Leo heard Gavins voice he latched onto the older man, bringing him down onto the couch. “Phck!” he cursed as a sobbing Leo latched onto him giving him a bone crushing hug. He didn't try to move as the smaller man curled into him, crying and mumbling into his chest.

“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry-” Leo repeated, still haunted by the corpses. A million thought raced through his head  _ You killed them it's all your fault if you tried to be a better son she'd still be alive Gavin hates you he probably wishes you were  _ dead. Gavin tried to put a hand on his trembling back to calm him down, but what he felt wasn't right. Leo’s spine had started to grow small spikes, poking through the fabric of the shirt making it hard for Gavin to reassure the younger man. He opted to rub Leo's sides and whispered reassuring things to him.

“Shh shh it's ok. Whatever you saw wasn't real ok? Here just listen to my voice and try to ground yourself, alright?” the more Gavin talked to him the less he shook, slowly the shaking stopped. The spikes shrank and the claws went back to normal, the dozens of eyes started to fade as well. All that was left was the sobbing Leo.

“I'm sorry, I let you die, I let everyone die. I’m sorry-” He sobbed until he ran out of tears. Gavin was shocked to hear that, almost everyone he knew would’ve been glad to see him dead, except Tina, _maybe_.

“It's ok, you're ok. You just had a really fucked up nightmare, alright?” he whispered and stroked the younger man's head, the beanie had come off revealing unruly locks of brown. Leo’s grip finally loosened and he opened his eyes, his body didn't hurt as much anymore. He sniffed and finally realized where they were.

In his breakdown he somehow managed to pull Gavin onto the couch, their legs entangled and his arms around the older man's muscular torso, if he wasn't exhausted emotionally he would’ve been embarrassed but all he could do was chuckle softly.

“God I'm a wreck aren't I?” The detective was relieved to hear the dumbass stop crying and stopped stroking his hair

“The biggest wreck I know.” he chuckled back and rested his chin on Leo’s head, tired from work and even more tired from worrying about this idiot. He soon drifted off, comfortable on the couch and legs tangled up with Leo’s.

He was going to say something but was frankly too comfortable to care. He felt safe for the first time in a long time and deep down he wanted it to last forever. He dozed off after a while and snored softley in the detective's arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> theres actually a thunderstorm goign on as i finished this and its fits perfectly with this actually aksjdncjfe anyways SORRY NOT SORRY ahahahah also go check out the art i made for this on my tumblr! it should be tagged my art on my blog! 
> 
> (Same name as my ao3 name btw)

**Author's Note:**

> if you want to see art of what eldritch horror leo looks like fo follow my tumblr @rainbyotes ! sorry this is kinda short but look out for more! next chapter should come soon, it might even have art ;)


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